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[TTG]

OK, on this I completely agree. I am a monstrous whore for open world games, as I love to explore every nook and cranny and see the thought and love that went into crafting whole neighborhoods that are easy to ignore in the quest to advance the plot.

But New Mombassa didn't hold much... identity, is I guess the right word. It didn't look lived in, and it didn't look much like a slipspace rupture tore its heart out either. The audio logs tried to instill more of a sense of place and humanity to the city, but it only makes the end result stand out more in stark contrast. If anything, the place looks like its been abandoned for years, with no reason for the covenant to be there, much less to keep a constant patrol going.

Would've loved to see more ad-hoc reactions. Humans holed up and in need of medical supplies. Crazies walking the streets with signs of the end times. Seeing Elites being cut down by Brutes from afar. Signal bonfires from ex-cops hoping for rescue, etc. etc. etc. Something, worth saving.

As it was, all you could rely upon to tell one district from the next was large emblazoned numbers on random buildings. It was a solid first foray into a more open ended world - and if Bungie decides to give it a more expanded go, I hope they give the hub a real sense of place, of purpose, and fill it with more than just random enemies.

Goes to show that ODST was not originally intended to sell for full price. If I had actually purchased a copy I don't think I would be so nice.

 

[feel]

Want a gif avatar of this soooooo bad.... Lightened up perhaps too?

VVVVVVVVVVV

 

[Nutter]

wow. that is nice.

Could you colorize mine a bit? [lightened and saturated?] and 90 x 120 if possible please.

 

[EazyB]

While we're bitching about already awesome avatars Letters made, could you make is so the black frame before the elite whips out the sword is held for like 3 seconds?

I need to my programs back on this computer.

 

[NullPointer]

You guys are all giving me avatar envy. Some of those are ace.

 

[Nutter]

While we're bitching about already awesome avatars Letters made, could you make is so the black frame before the elite whips out the sword is held for like 3 seconds?

I need to my programs back on this computer.

Since you were bitching, i fixed it for you.

 

[J-Rzez]

I just hope they really get into the sp campaign of this. Lot's of story to fall on here, I hope they really capitalize on it to make up for H3.

 

[EazyB]

Since you were bitching, i fixed it for you.

Thanks Beasly, hopefully someone will make yours all gumdrops and rainbows for ya.

I just hope they really get into the sp campaign of this. Lot's of story to fall on here, I hope they really capitalize on it to make up for H3.

A good part of me just wants them to go the L4D route and not worry so much about story. I'm sure most casual Halo fans don't care, as I hardcore Halo fan I don't even care. Just make a series of the most kickass encounters imaginable in levels with a ton of variety and dripping in atmosphere. No constraints with continuity, believability, and whatever else.

 

[Captain Blood]

VVVVVVVVVVV

that is awesome.

 

[Trasher]

VVVVVVVVVVV

Dude. You are so awesome. Much thanks! It's perfect.

Edit: You can even make out the bullets on this. Nice.

 

[feel]

You're welcome.

wow. that is nice.

Could you colorize mine a bit? [lightened and saturated?] and 90 x 120 if possible please.

This good?

Can't keep it under 150kb with more diverse color, without sacrificing the smoothness of the movement, which is what I like about this gif.

Brighter 90x120 version of the one you have already:

I'm not good at this, sorry if it's not what you had in mind, maybe someone else can take a shot at it, going to bed now.

 

[soldat7]

Since then COD has been ruling the world in terms of sales and you can't argue that Halo Wars and ODST haven't diluted the Halo name. It's gonna be interesting.

A lot of people liked Halo Wars (well reviewed, sold well) and ODST was a unanimous success (well reviewed, sold well.) ODST's value at the initial price point is the only real talking point here.

 

[Talon]

OK, on this I completely agree. I am a monstrous whore for open world games, as I love to explore every nook and cranny and see the thought and love that went into crafting whole neighborhoods that are easy to ignore in the quest to advance the plot.

But New Mombassa didn't hold much... identity, is I guess the right word. It didn't look lived in, and it didn't look much like a slipspace rupture tore its heart out either. The audio logs tried to instill more of a sense of place and humanity to the city, but it only makes the end result stand out more in stark contrast. If anything, the place looks like its been abandoned for years, with no reason for the covenant to be there, much less to keep a constant patrol going.

Would've loved to see more ad-hoc reactions. Humans holed up and in need of medical supplies. Crazies walking the streets with signs of the end times. Seeing Elites being cut down by Brutes from afar. Signal bonfires from ex-cops hoping for rescue, etc. etc. etc. Something, worth saving.

As it was, all you could rely upon to tell one district from the next was large emblazoned numbers on random buildings. It was a solid first foray into a more open ended world - and if Bungie decides to give it a more expanded go, I hope they give the hub a real sense of place, of purpose, and fill it with more than just random enemies.

That also leads to a larger criticism I've had with the Halo series. The advertising campaign for 2 and 3 focused so much on defending Earth and finishing the fight, but I've always felt the games have done a poor job of reflecting the urgency of the situation to the player. I'm assuming that Bungie made a decision to largely keep civilians out of the action (as have most games), but each Earth level has felt underwhelming, even during The Storm with the handful of hard-hat wearing civilians in your entourage.

Again, I love Halo as a series due to the tightness in mechanics and the often great level design. And, yes, I think gameplay (there's that word again) holds primacy over story or atmosphere, but I don't think it's bad to expect more from a AAA franchise.

Halo 3 admittedly improved the set pieces with the bits in The Storm and the Hornet invasion in The Covenant, but I desperately waiting to see that panorama brought into the games.

Now, sure, technology limitations certainly have an effect on what Bungie can do, and I think the landing sequences and the ridge tank sequences in Halo 3 prove that Bungie is interested in improving that feeling of being a part of a larger struggle. Hopefully Reach continues to improve the set pieces and the scale of battles.

 

[Vast Inspiration]

Since then COD has been ruling the world in terms of sales and you can't argue that Halo Wars and ODST haven't diluted the Halo name. It's gonna be interesting.

Did Call of Duty 3 dilute the Call of Duty name for Modern Warfare? Did World at War dilute the Call of Duty name for Modern Warefare 2? Do yearly installments dilute the COD or Mario name?

Halo Wars was not expected to match Halo 3 numbers. It's still the highest selling console RTS game.
Halo 3: ODST still had "3" in the title and it was known by everyone that its a smaller project that uses the same engine and is more for the Halo 3 enthusiast.
Neither had the budget or the marketing campaign of a full blown Halo title.
Neither had the hype of a full blown Halo title.
Neither of them matter in the context of "diluting" the Halo name.

I will tell you this, if Halo Reach comes out in November, it will WITHOUT A DOUBT beat MW2's 360 numbers.
November software sales are MUCH higher than September software sales. Thats why MW2 selling 4.2 million in November for 19 days isn't as impressive as Halo 3 selling 3.3 in September for 12 days.

Although, even if Microsoft follows the pattern of the past few games and releases Halo Reach in September, it will still beat Halo 3 numbers (more than 3.3 million).
Bet on it.
Only then will it be fully shown how "diluted" the Halo name is.

 

[Tashi]

Shit, I want my avatar to be animated now lol. I'll think of something.

 

[Captain Blood]

Shit, I want my avatar to be animated now lol. I'll think of something.

You should definitely get her head on this.

 

[WickedLaharl]

digital foundry analyzed the reach trailer and posted their findings.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/halo-reach-trailer-analysis-blog-entry

this has probably been posted but i didn't look very to see if it had.

So, just how "real" is the new trailer? Prior to its unveiling, wording on the content was carefully chosen. The video would be "in-engine", the key phase missing there being "real-time". It's fairly obvious that what we have here is a offline render of a Reach cut-scene: Bungie effectively allowing the engine all the time it needs to create a massively high-resolution version of the cinematic, which is then downscaled to native 720p, eliminating all aliasing and producing a superb-looking presentation.

What we do see in the trailer offers up plenty of cool discussion points though. Models, geometry and textures certainly look as though they are based on in-game assets, and in-game atmospherics and lighting are phenomenal. Material shaders in terms of the armour, vehicles and human faces are of an outstanding quality.

Over and above all of this, it is also worth remembering that the cinematics often show the engine running in a "best case" scenario. Certainly, in Halo 3, the cut-scenes often showed a higher graphical quality than the actual gameplay - the scene where the Arbiter stabs the Prophet of Truth showed a dramatic difference in lighting. How or whether this translates to Reach won't be apparent until we get to see proper in-game screenshots, which we don't expect until the beta launches some time in 2010.

 

[Nutter]

You're welcome.


This good?

Can't keep it under 150kb with more diverse color, without sacrificing the smoothness of the movement, which is what I like about this gif. I'm not good at this, sorry if it's not what you had in mind, maybe someone else can take a shot at it, going to bed now.

Thanks for the effort dude

It looks way better than before.

 

[godhandiscen]

Halo Wars went down as another average attempt at an RTS on consoles, I haven't played it so I won't speculate on the quality of the product, just the reaction. The main problems is that the ads were pure CG, the fact that it was an RTS wasn't anywhere to be found in the tv ad. Going by some friends' experiences and the tv ad, I'm betting there were a lot of confused faces when they started the game up.

ODST was an expansion pack with a full game price tag. This topic has been discussed enough already, so no need to get into that again.

No major blunders, but when the previous products have been triple A, people will be more cautious.

What the fuck? If you haven't played it, why are you trashtalking it? It is the best RTS on any console to date. Halo bias aside, I love the game, everything feels right. The only reason why I don't play it online it is because of the network issues and awful fps.

 

[Why For?]

digital foundry analyzed the reach trailer and posted their findings.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/halo-reach-trailer-analysis-blog-entry

this has probably been posted but i didn't look very to see if it had.

Which is what most of us suspected/knew anyway.

 

[godhandiscen]

digital foundry analyzed the reach trailer and posted their findings.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/halo-reach-trailer-analysis-blog-entry

So, just how "real" is the new trailer? Prior to its unveiling, wording on the content was carefully chosen. The video would be "in-engine", the key phase missing there being "real-time". It's fairly obvious that what we have here is a offline render of a Reach cut-scene: Bungie effectively allowing the engine all the time it needs to create a massively high-resolution version of the cinematic, which is then downscaled to native 720p, eliminating all aliasing and producing a superb-looking presentation.

this has probably been posted but i didn't look very to see if it had.

buh buh teh new AA & AF technique... I have been saying this for a while now, but you can't help people getting hyped up.

Which is what most of us suspected/knew anyway.

Oh really? offline rendering IS NOT REAL TIME.

 

[TTG]

Now, sure, technology limitations certainly have an effect on what Bungie can do, and I think the landing sequences and the ridge tank sequences in Halo 3 prove that Bungie is interested in improving that feeling of being a part of a larger struggle. Hopefully Reach continues to improve the set pieces and the scale of battles.

I'm hoping for a much better pacing and visuals to set an "atmosphere". Some Fort Frolic/Chase out of City 17/Jaw dropping african vista stuff. Basically, some memorable moments outside of the gunplay. It was there with CE, I need it back. It's hard to improve on the best shooter of this gen. but that would be the most obvious way, I think.

 

[Proelite]

A friend remade the remix to be more awesome.

 

[TTG]

What the fuck? If you haven't played it, why are you trashtalking it? It is the best RTS on any console to date. Halo bias aside, I love the game, everything feels right. The only reason why I don't play it online it is because of the network issues and awful fps.

You highlighted but forgot to read? "just the reaction". Not the militant fanboy reaction either, in case I need to qualify, but the general reaction.

 

[duk]

this will prob be the biggest game for NA in 2010... i really thought we'd see gears 3 in 2010 (with halo and gears switching every year) but i guess gears 3 will be reserved for 2011

 

[godhandiscen]

You highlighted but forgot to read? "just the reaction". Not the militant fanboy reaction either, in case I need to qualify, but the general reaction.

My bad. Also, people on forums should not be considered as the real reaction to the product. Here in GAF nobody believes an RTS can be played on a console. Also, it is easy to find people playing the game online (assholes rushing with the Prophet). I really don't believe Halo Wars hurt the franchise, if anything, it proved that it can deliver quality on all fronts.

this will prob be the biggest game for NA in 2010... i really thought we'd see gears 3 in 2010 (with halo and gears switching every year) but i guess gears 3 will be reserved for 2011

After Gears 2, I lost all my hype for Gears 3.

 

[Smokey]

I WANT ANIMATION IN MY AVATAR!

can someone who is way more gifted than I make an avatar from 1:10-1:12 in the trailer?

 

[duk]

My bad. Also, people on forums should not be considered as the real reaction to the product. Here in GAF nobody believes an RTS can be played on a console. Also, it is easy to find people playing the game online (assholes rushing with the Prophet). I really don't believe Halo Wars hurt the franchise, if anything, it proved that it can deliver quality on all fronts.

After Gears 2, I lost all my hype for Gears 3.

gears 2 has a lot of issues esp mp, but the sp was great

 

[TTG]

After Gears 2, I lost all my hype for Gears 3.

Maybe they could put the extra time to good use, no more giant metal hallways with pop up cover and waves of bad guys... The first game was excellent.

 

[Rad Agast]

Milk is for babies.

I take offence to that remark sir.

 

[Nutter]

Was it ever confirmed that all "6" characters we see are spartans?

 

[Plywood]

A friend remade the remix to be more awesome.
http://i50.tinypic.com/206bzut.gif

Wow, that's awesome.

 

[Rad Agast]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWGeB1564Xw&feature=sub

I'm sorry if this is old... some of you might not care, but I like IGN's rewind trailers... and they made one for the Reach Trailer so... Ya

Cool video. They still call it paint on that EVA helmet though. I miss Luke's analysis from him his 1up days.

 

[Ten-Song]

A friend remade the remix to be more awesome.
http://i50.tinypic.com/206bzut.gif

Easily the best yet. :lol

 

[Rad Agast]

You guys do realise the easiest come back to kyzer would have been to just quote his avatar..

How many Final Fantasy 13's are their going to be.. think about that and let it sink in.

I think it's better to drop the subject. You guys made a bigger deal out of one comment than it should have been.

 

[Sibylus]

Just got around to watching the Reveal trailer. Love that they threw in a growling Elite at the end there, as if to say, "Look, Elites are back, can you stop bitching on the forums now?" :lol

 

[Rad Agast]

After Gears 2, I lost all my hype for Gears 3.

If you're like me and only care for Gears co-op (Campaign and Horde mode) then you'll want a Gears 3. I never took Gears mp too seriously and only played it with friends through LAN mostly so in that environment it was fun. It's a good game to have if you're into LAN parties still.

Was it ever confirmed that all "6" characters we see are spartans?

They're all Spartans. Look at their armor.

 

[Ubersnug]

...and this doesn't sound like a tacked-on explanation at all? Especially this part:

Spoiler

However, a small portion of her was able to tap into High Charity's internal sensors and picked up a 'Human' life form.

You have to understand that I have condensed about 60-80 pages of story into a small couple of paragraphs summarizing the story, so there was no way you where going to get the full context or exposition for the part of my summary you have an issue with!

At the same time however, this is only in response to Galeon's statement that he thought Cortana's wittering on seemed pointless. I was only saying that the game didn't give enough context to explain what was going on, but a short story exists to fills in all the blanks.

Also, I don't see that it has to be considered as a tacked-on explanation. Yes, bungie could have easily spent a couple of minutes covering Cortana's incarceration with the Gravemind and the focusing on the torture he is putting her through to give the player some explanation to the ramblings of the AI. Bungie obviously left alot to the imaginations of the player, rightly or wrongly. The short story is only there to expand on the story for people who care enough about it.

 

[Sibylus]

Also, where are the Mark V helmets? I was hoping for Mark Vs!

 

[adamsapple]

You're welcome.


This good?

Can't keep it under 150kb with more diverse color, without sacrificing the smoothness of the movement, which is what I like about this gif.

Brighter 90x120 version of the one you have already:

I'm not good at this, sorry if it's not what you had in mind, maybe someone else can take a shot at it, going to bed now.

 

[Rad Agast]

Also, where are the Mark V helmets? I was hoping for Mark Vs!

Technically speaking, since Mr. Lone Wolf is a Spartan III he shouldn't have had access to a Mark V. As for the rest, it's been mentioned several times in this thread that the armor permutations don't mean much in regard to which generation the armor is. It's not your fault, it's a relatively big thread.

 

[Ten-Song]

I WANT ANIMATION IN MY AVATAR!

can someone who is way more gifted than I make an avatar from 1:10-1:12 in the trailer?

Such as this?

 

[Sibylus]

Technically speaking, since Mr. Lone Wolf is a Spartan III he shouldn't have had access to a Mark V. As for the rest, it's been mentioned several times in this thread that the armor permutations don't mean much in regard to which generation the armor is. It's not your fault, it's a relatively big thread.

So no real Mark Vs? Curse you, Tom Morello, may your bones never find rest!

Spoiler

Original Mark V helmet > *

 

[FilthyLies]

Technically speaking, since Mr. Lone Wolf is a Spartan III he shouldn't have had access to a Mark V. As for the rest, it's been mentioned several times in this thread that the armor permutations don't mean much in regard to which generation the armor is. It's not your fault, it's a relatively big thread.

Hilariously enough, the S-III armor looks the closest to the original Mark V Especially on the back of the helmet/chest piece. Everything else is too modded out to really bear much resemblance to the Chief from Halo 1.

 

[NemesisPrime]

To get slightly back on topic.

I wonder how many Covenant Bungie will have to throw at a team of 3 Spartans. 3 Spartans are almost unbeatable.... so how will the gameplay solve this problem? Better AI? Weaker Spartans? More enemies (unlikely if they want to boost the 3D engine)? Different type of gameplay? Low poly enemies (L4D style)? More tactical gameplay? Spawn points (MW2... Noooooooo!)?

 

[Rad Agast]

Hilariously enough, the S-III armor looks the closest to the original Mark V Especially on the back of the helmet/chest piece. Everything else is too modded out to really bear much resemblance to the Chief from Halo 1.

Yep. I'm guessing that Bungie wants us to create a stronger emotional link with the new guy so they had him resemble John more than the rest. I still hope we get to see the MC some where some how during Reach.

 

[EazyB]

To get slightly back on topic.

I wonder how many Covenant Bungie will have to throw at a team of 3 Spartans. 3 Spartans are almost unbeatable.... so how will the gameplay solve this problem? Better AI? Weaker Spartans? More enemies (unlikely if they want to boost the 3D engine)? Different type of gameplay? Low poly enemies (L4D style)? More tactical gameplay? Spawn points (MW2... Noooooooo!)?

I heard a pair of Flight Elites can take out an entire Spartan squad.

 

[Feindflug]

Well the video after watching it about more than 10 times in HD still looks really awesome and like the real deal (well except the massive AA/AF) I'm curious to see the IQ in the beta and if Bungie is gonna get rid of the local play and go for online mp only in the final game to maintain a better IQ...

Anyway the media blowout is coming next month so hopefully we're gonna get a better idea of the in-game visual quality.

After Gears 2, I lost all my hype for Gears 3.

Same here, after the first great game Epic really f*cked up everything that made the gameplay of the first game awesome plus they delivered a horrendous, glitchy and n00b-friendly mp.

 

[NeXuSDK]

To get slightly back on topic.

I wonder how many Covenant Bungie will have to throw at a team of 3 Spartans. 3 Spartans are almost unbeatable.... so how will the gameplay solve this problem? Better AI? Weaker Spartans? More enemies (unlikely if they want to boost the 3D engine)? Different type of gameplay? Low poly enemies (L4D style)? More tactical gameplay? Spawn points (MW2... Noooooooo!)?

You were able to play as four spartans in Halo 3 (well, three spartans and an arbiter), yet managed to be challenged quite sufficiently.

 

[Ten-Song]

You were able to play as four spartans in Halo 3 (well, three spartans and an arbiter), yet managed to be challenged quite sufficiently.

Actually, it was three Elites and a Spartan.